The invention relates to a vacuum valve including a valve housing having a first housing part and a second housing part, between which a ring-shaped housing seal is arranged, and a closure member which is adjustable between an open position in which the vacuum valve is open and a closed position in which the vacuum valve is closed.
It is known and usual to realize valve housings of vacuum valves with several parts and to seal the individual housing parts in relation or one another by means of elastic sealing rings, which are also designated as “static seals”. In this connection, a housing cover of the valve housing is mostly realized as a separate part which is connected to a basic body of the valve housing by means of a seal in order to enable or facilitate the vacuum valve to be assembled and, where applicable, a service to be carried out.
These types of vacuum valves can be realized, for example, in the form of angle valves, as are known, among other things, from U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,669,170B2, 6,289,932B1, DE 40 23 845 C1, US 2009/0194728A1, DE 10 2005 004 987 A1, DE 10 2008 003 725 A1 and DE 31 25 034 A1. However, slide valves and L-valves, for example, are also realized in this form. In the case of slide valves, the closure member is displaced in a straight line from its open position into its closed position or a carrier part carrying the closure member is displaced in a straight line from a start position into an end position, lever or expansion elements, which press the closure member against the valve seat at an angle to the direction of movement of the carrier, acting in the end position or close to the end position. Such slide valves mostly comprise only one single actuator which moves the carrier part or they can also be actuated by a manual actuating means. An L-shaped movement of the, in particular plate-shaped, closure member can also be carried out by separate actuators which act in the longitudinal or transverse direction of a valve rod or a valve rod can initially be displaced in a straight line and then tilted, for example by means of a link guide in order to place the closure member against the valve seat.
A vacuum valve where the valve housing is divided ‘lengthwise’ in two such that each of the two housing parts comprises one of the valve openings, the two housing halves being connected together by means of a sealing ring, proceeds from DE 37 17 724 A1.
It is also known to realize at least one flange of the valve housing, which comprises a valve opening, as a separate part and to connect it to the basic body of the valve housing by means of an elastic sealing ring. Such realizations proceed, for example, from GB 990,624. One of the flanges which is sealed in relation to the basic body by means of a sealing ring also comprises, in this connection, a sealing face against which, with the vacuum valve closed, the closure member is pressed by way of an elastic sealing ring which is arranged thereon (=‘dynamic seal” of the vacuum valve).
In the case of conventional vacuum valves, the dynamic seals are mostly mounted on the closure member and the valve seat is formed by a sealing face against which the closure member abuts with the seal arranged thereon when the vacuum valve is closed. However, it is also known to provide an elastic seal on the sealing seat against which the closure member abuts in a closed position by way of a sealing face of the closure member.
WO 2012/162051 A1 makes known connecting two or more O-ring seals by means of a thin web which is realized in one piece with the material of the O-ring seals. As a result, the O-ring seals are able to be arranged so close together that there is not enough space for realizing dovetail grooves for all the O-ring seals. In this case, an O-ring seal inserted into a dovetail groove is able to hold at least one other O-ring seal inserted into a rectangular groove.